


Changing Sides

by Purple_ducky00



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Daddy Issues, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Norman Osborn's A+ parenting, Pining, iron dad & spider son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24375463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_ducky00/pseuds/Purple_ducky00
Summary: What happens when you cross mutual pining, daddy issues, and soft boys? This fic!
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Harry Osborn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58





	Changing Sides

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marvels_blue_phoenix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvels_blue_phoenix/gifts).



> This fic was written for marvel's_blue_phoenix. I hope you enjoyed it!

“Peter. Peter. Are you… Peter!” Ned yells, turning to see at what Peter’s staring. “Oh not again. Peter!” He waves his hands in front of his friend’s face, causing Peter to start. “Come on. You know I support you in your quest to figure out your sexual identity, but seriously? Harry Osborn?”

“That’s Harry Osborn?” Peter wants to cry. Standing fifteen feet away is the most beautiful boy he has ever seen, and it turns out that the boy's father hates Tony Stark. Just. His. Luck. “Why does he have to be Harry Osborn?”

Ned shakes his head, “I think you’re cursed. Come on, we have to get to English class before Mr. Ainsley can give us detention.”

If you ask Peter what his English class was about, he wouldn’t be able to tell you because the only thing in his mind was the pretty face of a boy he could never love.

++++++

Harry saw the boy staring at him, and at first, he thought he had had something on his face. That kid was pretty cute, but Harry knows he can’t act on it. His father would never allow him to date a boy. Maybe they could just be friends…

Harry sees the boy again during lunch hour. It seems as if he is doing his best to not look in Harry’s direction. He nudges his best friend, Stella, “Hey, who's that?”

Stella’s long braids hit him in the face as she turns in the direction Harry motioned, “Peter Parker. Ultimate nerd. You’d like him. Why?”

“Dunno. Just wondering.”

Stella chomps on the end of her pen, eyeing him thoughtfully, “I think he’s adorable, too. It’s ok.” She grins.

“Stella. You can’t say that…” Harry hisses, running a hand through his dark hair. “You don’t know how much my father spies on me.”

“Right. Sorry,” Stella motions with her hand. “So what’s going on Saturday?”

“Nothing that I know of. Why?”

She hands him her phone, which shows an invitation to a party at Matthew’s. “You want to hit this up at some point tonight?”

“Sounds good to me.” Maybe it will take his mind off of that adorable brunet.

Harry likes Stella. They’re great friends. He knows his father approves of her as well and has made pointed hints towards him about dating her. Stella, however, does not date. She wants no attachments that are closer then friends, and she’s around for a good time. Feelings are icky to her, and he’s ok with that.

Stella agrees to help him find a cute girl to make out with so that he can take his mind off of the Parker boy. The duo arrive at Matthew’s party, and Stella leaves him for a few minutes to scan the scene. “I’m going to find you a few to choose from.” She winks.

Harry sticks his hands in the pockets of his skinny jeans and scans the party. It’s nothing special, just your average high school party. Suddenly the DJ stops the music. “Hey look who’s just arrived. It’s Penis Parker!” The kid says. “I’m surprised you dared to show your face at a party after your last fiasco.” Everyone seems to turn towards the door.

Spinning quickly to face the door, Harry sees that Peter had, in fact, just came in with his friend. Parker briefly meets his gaze, but quickly hangs his head in embarrassment. His friend whispers something to him, and together they step into the crowd. The DJ still calls him out. “Really, Parker? Wow. I didn’t realize you had guts. Wait, let me call up Spiderman. Maybe he can remind us how much of a liar you are.” He starts a chant of “When I say Penis, you say" to which the crowd yells “Parker.”

Harry watches as Peter shakes his head. He’s close enough to hear the boy tell his friend. “Told you it’d be a bad idea.” Harry’s had enough. He marches up to the DJ and takes the microphone from his hand.

“Excuse me. Seriously? What did he do that’s so unforgivable?”

The DJ, Eugene Thompson if Harry’s memory serves correctly, smugly looks at him, “He told us all that he knew Spiderman. Lies.”

“And? You tell people your name is Flash, right Eugene? A little untruth now and then never hurt anyone. Cut the kid some slack, and return to your conversations or whatever.” Harry drops the mic and walks towards Peter.

++++++

Harry Osborn stood up for him! Peter can’t believe it. Everyone has stopped staring, and now Harry is walking towards him. _Breathe Pete. Breathe._ He tells himself.

“Hey, are you ok?” Harry asks him.

Peter stares at him. _He’s so pretty_. Then he realizes Harry had asked him a question. “Gah. I, uh, yes. I am fine. Thank you. I appreciate, um, you doing that.” _Why can’t you talk normal?_

“Hey, it’s no problem. Wanna hang out?” He directs the question towards Peter and Ned. “I’m Harry Osborn.”

“Peter Parker, and this is my best friend, Ned Leeds.” Peter inclines his head towards Ned. “You wanna?”

“Sure! It’s nice to meet you Harry.”

Harry introduces them to his friend Stella when she appears seemingly out of thin air. She tells him something quietly, and he nods. Soon after, he excuses himself, but not before exchanging numbers with promises to hang out later.

By the time May arrives to pick them up, Peter is ready to leave. He searches the party to find Harry – just to thank him for stopping Flash. He stops when he sees the boy in the corner, making out with two girls. _Ah, ok. I thought he kind of liked me. Pete, your gaydar isn’t too good._ He mentally groans. To avoid any suspicion, Peter walks casually around the room. He grabs Ned on his way to the door, “You ready?”

Ned turns away from the crowd in which he had inserted himself. “Yea, you find him?”

“yeah, I’m sure he doesn’t want me interrupting at the moment.” Peter angles his head minutely. Ned follows the direction and his eyes grow huge. He nods quickly and spins back to the group.

“Well, I have got to go, but it was great talking to you. Thanks, Matt, for the great party,” Ned tips his fedora and walks out after Peter. Outside, he pats Peter on the back and says, “Hey man, I’m sorry. I thought he liked you, too.”

“So, how was the party?” May asks. Ned enthusiastically replies, and Peter noncommitally agrees. He’s just hung up on a kid that he’s probably not supposed to like anyways, what with him being an intern to Stark Industries and Harry the son of Norman Osborn, president of Oscorp.

May and Ned keep up the conversation the whole way back to Ned’s house. After Ned is dropped off, Aunt May turns off the radio, looks at Peter, and asks, “Ok, who’s the boy?”

“what do you mean…?” May laughs at Peter’s innocent expression.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Peter,” She pats his arm. “I know the Parker look of pining. It’s written all over your face.”

Peter turns to face her, “Ok, so, did you ever like a guy, but he’s clearly not into you?”

“How do you know he’s clearly not into you?” May narrows her eyes.

“Well, I mean, he had his tongue down some girl’s throat,” Peter shrugs. “He’s really good-looking, though, and nice. I just wish…” He trails off. “Also, it’s probably for the best. Mr. Stark probably wouldn’t approve.”

May barks out a startled laugh, “And why would you worry about who _Tony Stark_ approves of? You’ve seen all the people he’s dated.”

“This guy is Norman Osborn’s son…”

“Well,” May looks at him…. Until the cars behind her start honking because the light is green. “ Well, if you like him, clearly he’s nothing like his father. If Tony disapproves, I’ll talk to him.”

Peter shakes his head, “It doesn’t really matter because he doesn’t like me like that.”

May only smiles and turns the radio back on.

++++++

“Sir, your father would like to see you,” Aidy, a maid, tells Harry when he returns home from the party.

Harry sighs, but makes his way to Norman’s study. “Hello Father.”

“Harrison, take a seat,” Father gestures at a chair with his glass of Scotch. “I need to talk to you about your friends. Here, take some.” He pours Harry a finger of amber liquid.

“What’s wrong with Stella? I thought you liked her,” Harry queries.

“No, no, I’m talking about that Parker kid that you stood up for tonight. You don’t _like_ him, do you?”

Harry wishes he had never told his father about his sexuality, although he’s pretty sure Norman would find out from at least one of his many spies. _Here comes another “Real men aren’t gay” speech._ “No, Father.” Harry lies.

“Well, my sources tell me the kid came out privately to a few of his close friends and family. Maybe we can use that to our advantage. He clearly likes you.” Father shows him a picture of Peter staring off to the side. Harry knows he’s looking at him.

“But you said…”

“Quiet, boy. There’s no harm in a little _pretending_ , if needs be. Look, don’t even go that far if you have to, but word is that Tony Stark is going to release something that will change this industry forever. I just need to know ahead of time. Keep him from monopolizing,” Norman can see his son getting uncomfortable. “And, I will accept you as my son.”

Harry’s eyes shoot up. He had thought he would never get his father’s approval for anything like this. “Ok Father. I will try.”

“Harrison. Don’t fail me.” Norman throws back the rest of his Scotch before gesturing towards the door.

Harry nods and whips out his phone. _Hey, nix that “find me a girlfriend” plan._ He knows Stella is on the look for some pretty girl who will knock his socks off.

_Ok… curious to know why. Explain at lunch tomoro?_ Stella replies. Harry texts her back with a thumbs up. He heads off to bed with pictures of a certain brunet in his head.

Harry wakes up in the morning with a purpose. Norman actually joins him for breakfast – something his father hasn’t done since Harry’s mother died.

Stella swipes him to the side once he arrives at school. “Ok what’s going on?”

“I’m not trying to date any girls. I like Parker.”

“And your dad?” Stella gives him a look.

“He’s ok with it. So I’m not going to question.” Harry knows this is only a half truth, but he wants Stella to have plausible deniability.

Stella shoots him another look. “Sounds fishy, but whatever. I’ve been meaning to hang out with Chelle for a while now.”

Harry doesn’t know who Chelle is, but he doesn’t care. Stella can have other friends. “Ok cool! Meet for lunch?” Stella fist pumps him and heads to her locker.

All throughout the morning, Harry plans how he will approach Peter. When lunch break comes, he gets in the cafeteria line with Stella, but his eyes are roving the tables. When he finds Peter's, he takes his tray over and asks, “Mind if I sit here?”

He feels giddy when he sees Peter’s eyes widen, “Um yeah! I mean, no, no, I don’t mind.” He gestures helplessly at the table.

Harry takes the seat beside Peter, and Stella sits beside MJ. “Chelle! I was telling Harry I needed talk to you.” Stella tells her.

“Este. Good to see you, too.” MJ smiles at her.

_Este? Chelle?_ Harry mouths at Stella, and she pointedly ignores him. He turns to Peter, “So what are you doing tonight?”

“I have the Stark internship I gotta go to,” Peter replies.

They sit there talking, and Harry knows he really likes Peter.

++++++

A few weeks go past, and Peter has been spending a lot of time with Harry. He knows he has a huge crush on the Osborn, and he feels slightly guilty about it. He thinks he should tell Tony and get his opinion.

To Peter’s surprise, Tony shrugs, “If you like him, then he’s nothing like his father. Why don’t you invite him and Ned to the Tower for a game night?” Peter couldn’t be happier.

The two readily agree, and once this night was a hit, Harry, Peter and Ned spend a lot of time with Tony. In fact, the only one more excited than Tony when Harry asked Peter on a date was Peter.

Harry tells Peter about his relationship with his father, and Peter tells Harry how Tony had quickly become his father figure. Peter knows Harry couldn’t care less about science, and it warms his heart when Harry asks him to explain what he’s doing with an experiment. In turn, he makes sure he listens when Harry gets excited about a new car or fashion item. Things are going great.

++++++

Harry feels like a piece of crap. He knows he should come clean to Peter. His father contacts him frequently for information. But he knows as soon as Peter and/or Tony finds out his original reason to get close to them.

He hasn’t told Norman anything, and now he doesn’t want to. Tony helped him realize that some fathers are just shitty, and he shouldn’t have to strive for their attention. Over the four months Harry has been in contact with Tony, he has been more of a father to him than Norman had ever been.

As he is debating this in his head, someone walks in his apartment. It’s Norman. “Hello?”

“It has been four months Harrison. What do you have for me?”

“Father, it’s nice to hear from you, too,” Harry scoffs. “I have changed my mind. I’m not helping you with this.”

“Harrison,” his father warns.

“I’m serious. I actually like him, Father, and I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that.”

Norman’s laugh resounds through the room, “And what do you think that dear, innocent boy will do once he finds out the only reason you started dating him was to spy on his mentor’s company? Trust will be severed forever. Listen to me, boy, you are being stupid, and I will not let an Osborn lose all his manly qualities for love. You are sixteen, and I have decided that you will no longer live in this apartment.”

“I bought this with my trust fund.”

“I have ties to the owner. Trust me, you won’t be able to find lodging anywhere in Manhattan.” Norman smirks.

“I’m not helping you. Besides, they haven’t told me anything. Everything happening at SI doesn’t get discussed around the family dinner table. Now please leave.” Harry herds Norman towards the door. “Bye Norman.”

++++++

“I’m sorry, man. You guys were really great together. I wouldn’t want to tell you except I felt like I should.” Annamarie tells Peter. “My family lives on the same floor as Harry.”

Peter’s world feels shattered. Harry doesn’t like him. He’s using Peter to find out Stark Industries’ new product line. Norman Osborn has stooped to new lows apparently. Peter feels like everyone is looking at him. He just wants to melt into the floor. Why did he ever think someone like Harry would actually like him? Peter scoffs. And there Harry is at his locker.

“Hey, Peter,” Harry’s face lights up when Peter reaches him. “Walk you to class?”

“Thanks Harry, but you should probably get to yours. What is it, acting? You need some work on that. Also, just so you know. We’re through,” Peter pulls his history book from his locker and heads off to class.

Peter avoids Harry the rest of the day. He’s going to get his education, no matter what someone will try to do to him. Once school is out, Peter heads straight to Stark Tower. Taking one look at his face, Tony sets down his work and gives Peter his full attention. When Peter’s tearful rant is over, the billionaire pulls him into a hug, “You know, I’m usually good at reading masks, and I thought he was genuine. He’s good. He duped us all.”

++++++

  
“Ned, can you please help me?” Harry pleads. “I love Peter.”

Ned shakes Harry’s hand off his shoulder. “I don’t want to hear it. You knew what Peter was like, and you chose to take advantage of it. Stay away.”

Harry sags. He really screwed this up. Someone clears their throat. It’s Stella. “Seriously man? This is an all-time low.”

“Stella. Norman told me that if I manipulated Peter into handing over SI secrets, he would finally call me son. And he gave me permission to date him. You know how Norman has always said about gay men not being real men so I jumped at it because I did and still do like Peter. I didn’t think it through, obviously, because if I did, I would’ve known this would happen.”

Stella sighs, “Look, man, I’m still your friend, but I don’t want to talk about this. Why don’t we go to my house and steal my parents’ booze and get wasted?” Harry agrees.

++++++  
Peter doesn’t do anything except go to school and patrol. He wants to be left alone. His family and friends follow his wishes, letting him know they are there if he needs them.

One Saturday morning, May rushes into his room. “You need to look at this.”

Harry is plastered all over social media. Peter clicks on a video, “Hey, Peter. I know you probably don’t want to hear from me, but I just want to come clean with the truth. Yes, Norman Osborn did enlist me to either be your friend or date you to try to extract information about the new rumored Stark Industries product line. I agreed because for one, I wanted to spend time with you; for two, Norman Osborn is a grade A, certified dick. He never calls me son, and he ingrained a slight homophobia in me since I was young. When he gave me permission to date you and a ‘rightful’” Harry uses finger quotes, “place in the family, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. Then I fell in love with you. And Mr. Stark showed me that it wasn’t my fault Norman was like that, it is his own, and I’m better off without him. I want you to know that I have cut him out of my life. I am now relying on my trust fund and the hope of finding a job. I understand if you never want to talk to me again, but I just wanted you to know the truth. And I swear to you, I never found out anything, and I never reported to him.” The video cuts off.

“Thanks for showing me,” Peter whispers. “I don’t know what I am going to do.”

May takes his hand, “Peter. You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. You have to figure out what’s best for you. Even if you still love him, if you think you shouldn’t be with him, you don’t have to be with him. Now, I’m sure he won’t wait for you forever, but you have time.”

“Thank you May. I’ll dwell on it,” He hugs her.

++++++

Three weeks have gone by, and Harry hasn’t heard from Peter or his friends. He got an internship at Van Dyne fashion, and he’s getting by.

Harry is leaving school to head toward his new job when Peter stops him. “Hey can we talk?” Peter asks him.

“Yea sure!” Harry doesn’t know why Peter would want to talk to him, but he’s willing to hope.

“So, I saw your video, and I gave myself time to think it over. Um, do you still want to be with me?”

Harry smiles. “More than anything.”

“I am willing to try again, but it might take me a while to trust you completely. And I don’t want to talk about work around you for a while.”

“I understand,” Harry nods. “I screwed up. Can I ask – what does Tony have to think about all this?”

“Believe it or not, he defended you a little bit,” Peter nudges him. “He said he may have done the same thing, were he in your shoes. Apparently, daddy issues are not uncommon and cause a lot of confusion in people’s lives. Are you going to Van Dynes?”

“Yea. Care to walk with me?”

~ _Fin_


End file.
